ARMENIA ACCUSE AZERBAIJAN OF EXCEEDING ARMAMENT LIMIT

TREND Information
Nov 30 2007
Azerbaijan

Spain, Madrid / Trend corr. A.Maharramli / Yerevan has expressed
its alarm at the statement made by Azerbaijan on the possibility of
military operations in tackling the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian
stated during the meeting of OSCE Council of Ministers in Madrid on
29 November.

"The conflict can only be settled through a compromise," Oskanian
added. Azerbaijan exceeds the armament limit, which was envisaged in
the DOVSE, Oskanian said.

The Armenian Foreign Minister also touched upon a set of proposals
on the regulations of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which was
submitted by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to the Foreign Ministers
of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

During the meeting of the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov and the Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian, the
OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, Deputy Assistant Secretary of United
State Matthew Bryza, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and
the United States State Secretary Assistant on International Issues
Nicolas Bern submitted the written proposals on the regulation of
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to Azerbaijan and Armenia. The document
includes 10 proposals, which have been discussed by both countries
during the last three years.

Oskanian said that the document allows the preliminary regulation of
the conflict to be reached.

The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began
in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since
1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including
the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In
1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which
time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful
negotiations.
From: Baghdasarian